It’s going to be a really unique experience, but I hope the game ends up being safe for all of the players.

I’m not wringing my hands over the usual unfortunate injuries that can occur. But there is a special risk for Saturday’s game that you might have heard about on ESPN.

The Bears football field used to run from left field down toward home plate. It barely fit, as shown below. Rumor had it that the end zones were only 8 yards deep, instead of the usual 10 (or something to that effect).

Wrigley has been modified since 1970 to add a few more pricey seats for the Cubbies. With the modifications (and even with removing a few seats along the third base side), the field barely fits, once again. This time it rights down the right field line, as shown in this picture.

The problem is that there’s only about 6 inches of space behind the right field end zone before you get to the pads that are covering the famous ivy wall, as shown here in the full image (you really need to click on that link to appreciate what I’m talking about). Here’s another striking image.

There’s such a lack of space that the goal post is mounted onto the right field wall (and as a fun aside, field goals may fly out onto Sheffield Avenue, as there’s no net for the goal posts). And, of course, if Northwestern fans catch an Illinois field goal, we’ll throw it back as they do for visitor home runs at Cubs games.

Back to the issue at hand — is that safe having the wall that close to the field? I’ll basically turn off my “lean brain” on Saturday, but it’s a legitimate issue for a “workplace” (the players get free tuition on scholarship, so it’s a form of compensation).

”If they don’t make it in the NFL, they can go into the Arena (Football) League,” said Zook, who kidded with his receivers about the confining confines of Wrigley. ”There are a couple of areas that are tight. But I don’t think it’s as big a deal as everybody’s trying to make it.”

I hope they’re right. Generally, “hope is not a strategy” when it comes to safety or quality. I hope NU wins, I hope we have a great time, and I hope nobody gets hurt running into that brick wall. I won’t drain the fun out of the game, but the P.R. bonanza for my alma mater (ESPN Gameday will be there) could turn into a real bust if somebody busts into that wall.

Isn’t this more like safety as an afterthought? It seems pretty funny that they will be using 1 end zone. It does seem better to make the rare (or maybe unprecedented, but I doubt it) decision to use only one end zone. they also are going to have both teams on the same side of the field (I think) instead of opposite sides, which I imagine is going to make substitutions challenging.

It’s kind of like opting for a 3 foot aisle-way because that’s all you can fit. That type of thinking (including a lack of non-negotiable criteria) usually causes a bunch of problems from a safety and logistics perspective.